17 January 2008

Since I have been a photographer, I have been consistently drawn to Russia. It has a personal connection for me, in that, not only am I also a Russian, but in that the debate about Russia’s past and ongoing present frames my understanding of my subjectivity and relationship to history.

I am of the school that says that not only is everything in Russia political, but everything in the world is political. There is always political content in any piece of information, whether image or a text, and, of course, the history of art is replete with examples of images whose meaning is couched in the political exigencies of their time, ie: the Renaissance.

So I do not think about extricating my work from politics. On the other hand, I do not wish to be didactic. If I thought I could offer a critique or commentary about the political situation in Russia in a well-articulated essay, I would certainly do that. Instead, I make pictures that I hope will pose questions.